Do you want Chicken Dopiaza with that unique British Indian Restaurant quality and taste? Then simply follow the instructions below for success every time...

What is most surprisingly about this "chicken curry in hurry" recipe from Hari Nayak's My Indian Kitchen is how many corners it doesn't cut. There is no cream here, or even yogurt. Instead, a spice mixture is blended up and cooked until it thickens, meaning this isn't exactly the quickest "curry in hurry" recipe, even if it doesn't really take that much time. Luckily, it sure is flavorful.
It helps that the chicken is browned first so you get that wonderfully meaty backbone in each bite. But I think most of the dish's success comes down to that fragrant spice mixture, which includes onion, turmeric, garlic, ginger, and cumin. Some garam masala is also added in later on, which lends a surprising amount of complexity to this curry.

I love the way curry powder is used in Malaysia and other parts of South-east Asia – it adds great richness and colour to so many dishes. And if I had a dollar for every time I made this one, I'd be on to a nice little earner.

As satisfying and hearty as the pot pie is, it's a difficult task to take the humble dish from homey to glamorous. But as we've learned this week, cooking our way though American Flavor, Andrew Carmellini has the ability to transform food from comforting to breathtaking.
The stewy filling of Carmellini's Chicken Pot Pie is vegetable-rich with carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, peas, cremini mushrooms, and new potatoes with chunks of braised chicken legs and a subtle touch of smoke and heat from chipotle Tabasco sauce. When you're finished simmering it, you might be tempted to break out a spoon and call it a day. But it's the crust here that really makes the dish.
Instead of going with the traditional biscuit crust (and you know that Carmellini can make a mean biscuit) he goes with a thin crust that puffs up and bakes into a cracker-like dome, encasing the pie in a crisp that's just waiting to be shattered. It's the perfect salty-crunchy accompaniment to dip into the bubbling chicken filling.

Nate Tate and his sister Mary Kate Tate (yes: their real names!) are the authors of a brand new cookbook, “Feeding The Dragon,” that documents their travels around China (nine regions, 9,700 miles) and the recipes (100) that they collected on their journey. I first encountered the book when they asked me to write a blurb for it (look for me on the back cover); I didn’t know what to expect when they sent it my way. But what this book contains is the real deal: authentic recipes, impressive photography, and real world stories of making one’s way around China. (Don’t miss the episode where they’re chased by feral dogs, pg. 69.)

I guess everyone is tired of hearing about the snows that have hit the northeast US but the reality is winter is here to stay for awhile. Guess we have to make the best of it. This dish will heat you up, or not, if you don't use hot Thai curry paste but it's good either way.

After a long week of doing next to nothing over the holidays, I pushed to get us out of the house and into a bowling alley. My sister-in-law was quite receptive, and even suggested a particular alley because of their "awesome" wings. I equate bowling alleys with cheap beer, greasy food, and sub-par wings—part of the attraction, really—so I was immediately drawn to the notion that we were choosing a location to roll primarily on the quality of their wings.

I have to say, the wings were pretty damn good. Coated with the familiar Thai sweet and spicy sauce, the real magic of these wings was the batter, which was golden brown, crunchy, thick, and filled with little nooks and crannies for the sauce to settle in to.

Trying to recreate these at home, I needed to forgo the usual light coating of cornstarch I use for wings and go full throttle with a heavy batter. The wings were dunked in a mixture of flour, cornstarch, and baking powder, then in an egg wash, then back in the flour mixture to create an extra-crispy, thick shell. Although it didn't quite match all the qualities of the bowling alley wings—I'm starting to think they had some panko in their batter that created the unique texture—these were still top notch. The initial crunch of the wing gave way to a sweetness, then tang, and ended with a punch of heat, a combination that ensured every last one of them was devoured.

If you didn’t want to serve the curry with rice, I like to use canned lentils with wilted spinach to get some more veg into my meal.

And don’t feel constrained to chicken. Beef, lamb, tofu, chickpeas or lentils would all be delicious.

There are 2 ways to get tender meat in a curry. Either gently simmering in the sauce for hours OR stir frying finely sliced pieces of meat over a high heat to brown the outside of the meat, then removing the meat from the pan, making the sauce and adding the meat at the end to just heat though. In my experience, simmering for 1/2 hour or so usually gives tough meat.

Of course, if you have access to great commercial curry pastes, feel free to use them instead.

And as always when cooking with chilli, leaving the seeds in makes it hotter. And it’s better to err on the side of being not hot enough – you can always add more!

There’s only one thing better than Thai Crab Cakes and that’s Thai Chicken Cakes. Serve with rice, lemon and a chilli peanut sauce to complete the picture. In the meantime, the mixture will at first seem s bit sticky and difficult to shape into patties. It will be easier, if you have time, to chill the mixture first and use wet hands to shape the mixture.

This savory dish is a staple at the Cajun table and goes well with just about everything, especially spicy foods.

Hello All, you might like to begin the week with one of those ‘stir fry’ recipes (having enjoyed a good weekend!)... this one is that you'll enjoy... not to worry if you cannot find Thai Basil. I've found the regular stuff does the job quite well. If you can’t find the Choy Sum.. then just use your imagination to make this... just ‘for you’.

I found this in a hand written book. It’s something I've not made for some time – tonight’s the night! Use a good mango chutney if you have it but any chutney will do the trick.

This may not be the official national dish or Portugal, but it could be. Fragrant with the sweet aroma of Portugal's best wines, it's a dish you won't soon forget.

A small amount of tequila is often added to dishes in Mexico the same way that wine and brandy are used in other parts of the world. You can leave it out if you prefer without losing the overall character of this dish.

Almond and Cheese Stuffed Chicken (Adapted from CL)

There's always a divide between what I want to bring to a party as an appetizer or side dish, and what's portable or easy to reheat. And for all those times I've tried making Buffalo wings in the cramped kitchen at other people's parties, there was a great alternative lurking the entire time.
And that's Buffalo Chicken Dip, which combines all the concepts that make wings grand—tender chicken, buffalo sauce and blue cheese—into a warm dip to spread over crackers or tortilla chips. I needed more of a crunch with the dip, so I sprinkled it with panko bread crumbs, and placed it in the broiler to brown for a few minutes. And the results are gooey, cheesy, chickeny goodness that just screams for a cold beer.
The recipe is from San Diego chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Kevin Roberts, who professes his love to hot sauce by chugging it just for the heck of it. And as for me? Well, I'll stick to showing off my hot sauce adoration by sharing it with others courtesy of this dip.

Smothered Chicken and Barley (Adapted from CL)

I pulled this recipe for Parisian Chicken from Mother's Best, a collection of comfort food dishes from Mother's Bistro and Bar in Portland, Oregon. It's a classic preparation, coating the chicken with flour and egg to give it a golden crust, then making a quick pan sauce with vermouth, lemon juice, butter, and parsley. This delicious and quick dinner is elegant and not too difficult to make.

I'm usually leery of recipes that advertise their spiciness. They tend to be either way too hot, or about as fierce as mild salsa. But I figured I'd give this a shot, considering it came from Simply Ming by Ming Tsai. The source of all the "craziness" here is sambal, a fiery condiment most often found in Southeast Asia.
To be completely honest, this dish is right in middle of my spice tolerance. But perhaps that's just because every other ingredient here is fighting against that heat, from the sugar to the lime juice. The result is a smartly balanced dish that feels intense one second, and rounded and sweet the next. This sensory delusion will make you dig in again and again. Perhaps that's the crazy part.

For those who think fried chicken is a strictly Southern thing, it might be time to expand your horizons. Koreans have their own style of fried chicken, which is rapidly making inroads Stateside and which is absolutely delicious. Though it's similar enough to its U.S. counterpart, it also has a hallmark cooking technique that differentiates it and gives the chicken an amazing texture: double frying.

This flavoursome, low-fat casserole freezes really well, so why not make double and freeze half for next time

A mild and healthy chicken korma curry that's still satisfying and full of flavour.

Adapted from Ellie Matthews, via Pillsbury.

Adapted from About.com.

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated’s 30-Minute Best Recipe book

Adapted from Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.

Two years ago, on Valentine’s Day 2007, I made a White Chicken Chili from Cook’s Illustrated. It was delicious and fiery hot, flavored by not one, not two, but nine diced jalapeño, Anaheim, and poblano peppers. Sadly, I didn’t get to enjoy it until February 16.

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

Any leftover chicken mixture can be reheated and served on hot tortillas; top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and light sour cream. Total time: 30 minutes.

Cook’s Illustrated’s Chicken Curry in a Hurry

The stretchability of a whole chicken is a frequently discussed topic among food and frugality bloggers. It’s commonly accepted that a single fowl will feed a family of 11 for weeks, years - even millennia. Even after 20 months of keeping CHG, I’m constantly gobsmacked by how moms and dads can create dinner after dinner from the same bird.

Continuing the chicken theme, here is another very simple recipe using boneless chicken thighs. This time I have used skinless meat. The thighs are cut into pieces, marinated in balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, and coated with sesame seeds. The balsamic vinegar adds tang and a little sweetness. They are then simply pan=fried in a non-stick frying pan that is barely coated with oil. I’ve used both black and white sesame seeds for a little added color, but you could use all-white (light brown) sesame seeds. (Using all black seeds might make them look carbonized!)

Usually chicken teriyaki (or chikiteri as it’s abbreviated sometimes) is made from whole chicken thigh pieces, but I prefer to cut the meat up in advance for bento use - the smaller pieces cook faster, and I don’t have to deal with slicing hot cooked meat early in the morning.

Easy to make ahead, this dish is great served hot or at room temperature.

Torihamu (鶏ハム）or chicken ham is a recipe that was born and made popular on the internet. It was first popularized around 2001 or 2002, on an extremely popular and often wild and woolly Japanese community/forum site called 2ch or 2-channel (２ちゃんねる), sometime in 2001 or 2002.

Although I use chicken quite a lot in my bentos, I realized that I have very few bento-appropriate chicken recipes up here on Just Bento, or even over on Just Hungry. I am going to rectify this situation over the next few days, so if you are a chicken fan, stay tuned!

The first chicken recipe is one I have made for years and years - tender, lemony white meat nuggets that are infused with lemon. They very quick to make, good hot or cold, and versatile. They are pan fried, not deep-fried, so they are not crispy on the outside, but are delicious nevertheless. You can use them in a rice based bento, with noodles, or as a sandwich filling. They can be eaten as-is with a cocktail stick or the fingers too.

Tsukune is a term that means “kneaded and shaped into a round shape”. It usually means a dish made with finely ground and flavored chicken or fish. Chicken tsukune are very well suited to bentos, since they are soft and stay nice and moist. They are also gluten-free (no breadcrumbs!), if you take care to use a gluten-free cornstarch or potato starch and soy sauce.

This bento brings together two recent recipes for a pretty low-calorie yet filling bento. The hot and sweet peppers do need to be made in advance, but they last there for a week or more, so are well worth the time they take. The Pan fried lemon chicken nuggets can either be made the night before or in the morning - they only take a few minutes. They are only about 30-40 calories per piece, so adding a couple more pieces won’t hurt much at all. I added some wide green beans that are in season right now, just boiled in salted water then ‘refreshed’ under cold running water. You could use spinach or other greens instead.

This is presented as an idea for a bento that doesn’t look like a bento, for people with hearty appetites who can’t get their heads around the smallness of a bento box and how it could possibly ‘be enough’. It’s supposed to ressemble a buffalo chicken wing meal, but has cut down on the fat and calories of a real buffalo chicken spread considerably, in this way:

The wings are baked with no added oil, not deep fried
Greek yogurt is used with a little bit of Roquefort cheese for the dip
The chips or fries are also oven baked, not deep fried.

There isn’t much new in this bento, except for the diagonally oriented packing of the box to accommodate the chicken skewers. I wanted to present it though because this is really a basic type of bento for me: 1 protein, 2 vegetables, rice or other grain (usually it’s brown or mixed-grain rice). It’s quick to assemble, balanced, filling and easy. It really doesn’t require any more thought than your typical sandwich.

Here is another example of an onigiri (rice ball) based bento, packed into an onigiri bento box. I made a batch of okowa, adding some chopped cooked leftover chicken to the the basic recipe, formed it into 1/2 cup-portion plastic wrap method onigiri, and froze it. Because of the extra-glutinous nature of sticky rice and the addition of a little oil to the rice, okowa freezes and defrosts beautifully. Since okowa does contain oil and is preseasoned, it’s not necessary to moisten the plastic or salt it to form the onigiri.

This is a bento that uses one of the chicken recipes I’ve posted, little chicken dumplings stewed with carrots (tsukune-ni). The recipe takes about 20 minutes to cook, but since it is a bid fiddly it’s best made in advance. It keeps for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, and can also be frozen quite successfully. What I usually end up doing is making enough for dinner, with ‘planned leftovers’ for the next day’s bento. The soft dumplings go marvelously well with rice.

Every component of this bento is made in advance with the exception of the carrot rice. This I made using some leftover rice, mixed with a little grated carrot, a bit of oil, and salt (see carrot rice recipe). In the other compartment I put in two pre-made, frozen and defrosted Panfried chicken mini-burgers, and refrigerator-stock Cooked to death hot and sweet peppers. I used a couple of fresh shiso leaves from the garden as garnish and liner; if you don’t have shiso, just use some dark green leaves of any kind that are sturdy and can be eaten raw (for example cos or Romaine lettuce, Malabar spinach, Swiss chard, even cabbage!) I do like using shiso as garnish, since it’s loaded with nutrients - and every bit of nutriition counts in a small bento box!

So, on to the bento! Here are the recipes for Red Peppers With Maple Syrup and Chili and Sweet-Sour Red Wine Vinegar Chicken. I made a double amount of the chicken since I also packed The Guy’s bento, and there’s enough left over of the red pepper for another round of bentos.

The components of this bento are the cooked broccoli, shredded carrot, and the leafy vegetables. Leafy vegetables can get limp if they are carried with heavier food on top of them. In addition there’s the chicken and the yogurt dressing.

A donburi is a bowl of rice with various savory toppings. This bento is donburi-style, since all the savory things are piled on top of a bed of rice. All the juices in the chicken and vegetables run down into the rice, so by lunchtime it’s all very tasty. You may want to bring along a spoon as well as chopsticks or a fork to eat this.

This is the ‘skinny bento’ featured in Skinny Bento vs. Not So Skinny Bento.

I made everything in advance the night before except for the tamagoyaki, but I could have made that in advance too. This can also be made in the morning in about half an hour, except for the task of marinating the chicken teriyaki - if you have to do that too, add another 10 minutes or so. (I’d cut up and marinate the chicken, go and shower and stuff, then return to finish the bento.) All in all though, I think this bento is more efficiently assembled by doing almost everything the night before, as I show here.

I’ve already given the recipes for bite size chicken teriyaki and tamagoyaki, so here I’ll note down the recipe that is barely a recipe for the bean sprouts with umeboshi (moyashi no ume ae). This is a refreshingly crunchy and very low-calorie sort of side salad, which I like to serve with a meat dishes.

Schnitzel is the German word for "cutlet" and most often describes a dish of breaded, fried meat. In this version, crispy, quick-cooking chicken cutlets are paired with a sweet-tart salad.

Position racks in the top third and the bottom third of the oven so that the chicken and the carrots can roast together.

Chicken and sausage gumbo (adapted from Ken Wheaton)

The Tex-Mex trinity of jalapeno, cilantro and lime paired with the light corn dumplings reminded me of a soupy chicken-tamale pie. (And did you know that tamales are considered dumplings? I didn’t!). These are definitely not your grandmother’s chicken and dumplings. But don't worry, these Tex-Mex chicken and dumplings still fulfill the original dish’s mandate, which is that after eating it you will feel cozy and satisfied. And sometimes, that's just what you need.

Nishiki, a California-grown brand of medium-grain rice (technically, it's a longer-than-average short-grain rice), is processed using a milling technology called musenmai. The musenmai process blends heated tapioca with the rice kernels; when moisturized, the tapioca and bran stick to each other, rise to the surface, and both are removed, leaving behind a bright, fresh-tasting, cleaned rice which does not need to be rinsed again before cooking. Water-saving rice... what's not to love?

Continuing the chicken theme, here is another very simple recipe using boneless chicken thighs. This time I have used skinless meat. The thighs are cut into pieces, marinated in balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, and coated with sesame seeds. The balsamic vinegar adds tang and a little sweetness. They are then simply pan=fried in a non-stick frying pan that is barely coated with oil. I’ve used both black and white sesame seeds for a little added color, but you could use all-white (light brown) sesame seeds. (Using all black seeds might make them look carbonized!)